Teachings from the Worldly Philosophy [Hardcover]

Robert L. Heilbroner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 1996

Selections from great writings on economics, annotated and introduced by a distinguished economist and teacher.

Author of The Worldly Philosophers, a 3-million-copy seller, Robert Heilbroner offers here a compendium of readings from the "worldly philosophers" themselves. The selections range from the earliest economic thought to such towering volumes as Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, Thomas Malthus's Essay on the Principle of Population, David Ricardo's Principles of Political Economy, and John Maynard Keynes's The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money. Acting as "a docent, not merely an editor," he takes the reader through the core arguments with "brilliantly clear commentary" (New York Times Book Review).

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This sequel to Heilbroner's classic survey of the great economists, The Worldly Philosophers, published four decades ago, is an anthology of writings of some 20 economic thinkers ranging from Aristotle to Malthus, Marx, Veblen and Schumpeter, with interlinking commentaries. Making the dismal science palatable with carefully chosen selections, Heilbroner often highlights underappreciated aspects of these economists' thinking; for example, Lord Keynes's wholly negative appraisal of Marxism, or Adam Smith's scathing critique of landlords and capitalists. He lets the thinkers speak for themselves as they analyze the workings of a market-driven economy and how it molds the behaviors of ordinary people. This adventurous omnibus includes economic insights from the Bible and Bernard Mandeville's 1705 poem, "The Grumblilng Hive," upholding mild fraud, luxury and appeals to pride as necessary agents of a prosperous business civilization. Heilbroner concludes that economics is inextricably sociopolitical in nature, and he urges a new crop of dissenting economists to take full account of ecological threats, political instabilities and new technologies.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Heilbroner (economics emeritus, New Sch. for Social Research) is the author of the widely read The Worldly Philosophers (1953), which concerns the evolution of economic theory. In a new work, he has compiled a companion volume consisting of short selections of economic thought from the writings of major figures such as Adam Smith, David Ricardo, and Thomas Malthus of the Classical School; their later 19th-century dissenters, Karl Marx and Thorstein Veblen; and John Maynard Keynes, whose seminal works appeared in the late 1930s. Heilbroner's lucidly written commentaries illuminate the leading ideas and locate them in their social context. His book will be useful mostly as a supplement to works on economic theory and principles. Recommended for academic libraries.?Harry Frumerman, formerly with Hunter Coll., New York
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (April 17, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393039196
• ISBN-13: 978-0393039191
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #204,996 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Heilbroner is the Norman Thomas Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at The New School for Social Research. He is the author of over twenty books, among them The Worldly Philosophers. He lives in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overview of the top 20 economic minds in the past., January 9, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Teachings from the Worldly Philosophy (Hardcover)

Some people may have met Robert Heilbroner through his first (1953) book, an introduction to economic thought, The Worldly Philosophers, still used in many economics courses. He has returned after more than twenty other books and over forty years of active participation in the public debate to the task of rekindling "...a new interest in political economy...a mode of economic inquiry whose analytical conclusions started from an effort to take full cognizance of the sociopolitical realities of our time, whatever the difficulties they may pose for the construction of elegant models."(p.336) His approach in Teachings is a combination of excellent "reviews" and "annotations" with long excerpts from the political economists of the past who he feels have contributed the most to our understanding of society. With little apology he has included only Thorstein Veblen, John Maynard Keynes and Joseph Schumpeter from the twentieth century. This "deficiency" is more than made up by his critical appraisal (with William Milberg) of the economics profession since the early 1960s in his recent book, The Crisis of Vision in Modern Economic Thought (Cambridge University Press, 1995, 128 pages) Robert Heilbroner states one of his objectives as "presenting an overview... a book that could actually be read, and not one destined for more or less permanent shelving". He has certainly accomplished this by first picking the "pivotal figures" that set the "historic trajectory" of what today we call economics. By placing each of the twenty in context with cogent comments he then uses their own words to highlight their contributions. (This book will do a lot for the reading and re-reading of the original classics as well.) Of equal interest is the unfolding of the evolution of political economy, concerned about the fate of the sociopolitical strata in the eighteenth century (landowners, labourers, and employers) to the science-like discipline of economics, focused on faceless individual behavior and sterile firms in the nineteenth century. Only with the Great Depression did we see with Keynes a return to the pressing social concerns of the day. Who should read this book? € Anyone thinking about becoming an economist. If you find this book interesting and challenging, join up since we need more like you. € Students and teachers of economics. This book will help broaden your vision, as well as providing many topics for discussion. € Harried bureaucrats. Here is a book that recognizes the value of government, with each of the greats holding forth on the key roles of government, lest we forget. € Citizens and voters. Don't believe that nothing can be done and that policy makers are impotent, in spite of their claims. When you review the challenges of the past and the manner in which we moved forward in economic policy then you will demand better policy now. Teachings from the Worldly Philosophy is divided into seven parts, with the Bible, Aristotle, and St.Thomas Aquinas covered in the short first part, Earliest Economic Thought. The second part, The Commercial Revolution, examines the contributions of Mandeville, Mun, Cantillon, Quesnay, and Turgot during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Classical Economists-- Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, David Ricardo, and John Stuart Mill -- constitute the lengthy third part. Heilbroner delights in introducing the "real" Adam Smith, not the one so revered by the right-wing demagogues today. Karl Marx has a section of his own, appropriately without a label. Heilbroner holds him high among the worldly philosophers and comments on the recent apparent demise of socialism with this thought; " If socialism failed, it was for political, more than economic reasons; and if capitalism is to succeed it will be because it finds the political will and means to tame its economic forces."(p.195) The fifth part, The Marginalists, focuses on the nineteenth century economists Jeremy Bentham, William Stanley Jevons, Léon Walras, and Alfred Marshall. All turn away from the broad social issues to the specifics of price determination or microeconomics. In the sixth part Thorstein Veblen, John Maynard Keynes, and Joseph Schumpeter "speak" for the twentieth century: Veblen with some derision of the foibles of economics, Schumpeter with his insights on the processes of innovation, and Keynes with his new vision of income determination, the role of saving and investment, and the potential for government action to restore full employment. The final part develops Heilbroner's concern that today's economics is not up to the challenge of dealing with the emerging pressures from technology, international financial markets, ecological threats, and political instability. He calls for a re-invigoration of economics by adopting a vision that recognizes the full social and political realities of our time. The Teachings helps by showing what political economy has been in the past, while The Crisis... explains more specifically what needs to be done now. Mike McCracken is an Ottawa political economist and econometrician. he can be reached at [e-mail] or thier Web page at www/informetrica.com

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Teachings of a brilliant teacher, December 13, 2004

By 

Luc REYNAERT (Beernem, Belgium) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teachings from the Worldly Philosophy (Paperback)

With a few excerpts from the works of the most important economic thinkers in history, Robert Heilbroner gives his readers a perfect overview of the evolution in economic thought, from theorization to calculation and from prices to employment.

The excerpts are superb. Even for those who read some or most of the quoted works, there is the flavour of the author's own concise and highly perceptive comments.
Hereafter a few excerpts of the excerpts:
B. Mandeville: Thus every Part was full of Vice, Yet the whole Mass was Paradise.
A. Smith: Civil government is in reality instituted for the defence of the rich against the poor.
and the author himself: Wealth has always been a proxy for power.

Heilbroner is always also focused on the 'Veil of Economics' (the title of one of his highly recommendable books), because for him economics is inextricably socio-political.
His comments show us that 'the engines of history do not draw all their energies from economic drives and institutions'.
He regrets the actual sorry state of the economic profession dominated by abstract-minded theorists without social concern.
His last plea is for a rekindling of the tradition of political economy.

This book contains a perfect and highly useful index.
A great book composed and written by a superb free mind.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Tour of the History of Economic Thought, October 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Teachings from the Worldly Philosophy (Paperback)

Heilbroner takes us through the entire world of economics from beginning to end, and he acts as our procter. He allows us to read the original words of the economists, along with his own helpful commentaries, and this leads to a clear understanding of the entire history of economics.